Citing ‘what’s best for Fairfax,’ ousted city clerk seeks reappointment

FAIRFAX — Despite having been removed from her post, former City Clerk Cynthia Stimson will continue to assist Fairfax city staff with a variety of municipal operations — but she warned city officials that the arrangement could not go on much longer.

“If I know that there’s going to be a special (meeting) before the end of January to discuss my reappointment, I’ll be here to mentor” in the meantime, Stimson told City Council members this week. “If that’s off the table, that is not a possibility.”

Fairfax City Council members this week voted to continue with an at-will agreement through which Stimson provides mentoring services to city staff to assist with operations related to budgeting, payroll, meeting planning and more.

Those responsibilities previously fell under Stimson’s purview as city clerk, but the council on Jan. 8 voted 3-2 against retaining her for the role. The city clerk is appointed by city council members every two years as outlined in city code, and Stimson had held the role since 2009.

The repercussions of the vote were immediate, and the public backlash was swift: Dozens of residents — alongside former elected officials and current city staff — showed up to the council’s next meeting to protest the action and call for Stimson’s reappointment.

The next day, it was announced that Stimson would be returning to City Hall on a limited basis for as-needed mentoring through an Iowa League of Cities program meant to connect experienced clerical staff to cities with specific training needs.

The council on Tuesday sought to formalize the at-will arrangement and voted unanimously in favor of continuing to have Stimson provide mentoring services for $80 an hour. They stopped short, however, of entering into a formal agreement for her to provide those services as an independent contractor.

That way, “it doesn’t require a contract at all, and she just needs to invoice us as (those hours occur),” said Mayor Jo Ann Beer.

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Ousted clerk says she wants ‘what’s best for Fairfax’

Speaking Tuesday, Stimson outlined a chaotic two weeks since the council’s Jan. 8 decision against her reappointment. Almost immediately, she said city staff reached out with concerns about her absence, and within days she was providing certain services free of charge to aid her former co-workers.

That led to the more formal mentoring agreement, which officially went into effect on Jan. 15. Since then, Stimson said she’s assisted with everything from payroll and budget preparation to sending out W-2s and writing meeting agendas.

“And that’s just in four days,” Stimson said. “ … There are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual tasks that the city clerk is responsible for with assistance of other city staff, and the elected officials need to make informed, fact-based decisions” about how those will be handled moving forward.

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Ultimately, Stimson urged council members to reappoint her to the role and allow her to work until a planned retirement date of June 30. That would allow time for a successor to be identified and trained before her departure.

Doing so would ultimately be a cost savings to the city, she added, since it would be less expensive to have her return as a full-time employee than pay her $80 an hour through the mentorship program.

I’m not saying that because it’s “what’s best for me. I’m making more money now per day than I was before,” Stimson told council members. “But it’s what’s best for Fairfax, and that’s what all of your staff have been working for years to do.”

Next steps unclear

The council discussed holding a special meeting on the topic to discuss further and seemed favorable, but no date was set. It is unclear exactly when such a meeting would occur, as multiple council members have planned vacations in the weeks ahead.

The next regular city council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 10. Were a special meeting to occur in the meantime, the city would be required to provide at least 24 hours notice and post an agenda with an outline of the planned discussions and/or potential action items.

The three council members who voted against Stimson’s retention — Cindy Anderson, Deb Mallie and Dan Wozniak — have provided few details as to their decision, but all three have stated the decision was made in response to resident concerns and a general desire for change.

Were the council to reconsider, at least one of the three would need to change their vote for any reappointment to occur.

The council in the meantime tabled a vote on the formation of a hiring committee and publication of a job listing for the open city clerk position. Speaking Tuesday, the group unanimously agreed more discussion was needed before such action should be taken.

Comments: grace.nieland@thegazette.com